Tumelo Madlala felt the heat during cross-examination from the defence of the five accused in the murder trial of his friend, Senzo Meyiwa, at the Pretoria High Court yesterday. Madlala was on the witness stand for the second day, he is the 7th witness called by the state.

QUESTIONED ABOUT FAILURE TO CALL 10111

When Madlala was questioned about the efforts he made to get Meyiwa help after running for safety, he said he wasn’t thinking straight because he was shocked. The court heard that during the intrusion, he fled to one of the bedrooms in Kelly Khumalo’s home and hid his phone underneath a pile of blankets. "Now why didn’t you call for help, 10111 from your cellphone because you were now in a locked room at that stage and a gunshot had been fired from the house?" asked advocate Sipho Ramosepele, the defence lawyer for accused 1 and 2. Madlala said, "It was my first time at that house and I didn’t know anyone there. Who was I going to call for help? I have never dialled that number before, but I was also in a predicament at the time. I didn’t think of all these things then like I can think of them now," he said. Madlala dismissed claims that they didn’t do anything to help Meyiwa survive. "We tried putting Senzo in the car. So, I don’t understand when it is suggested that there were no attempts to assist Senzo. When you are in that situation you are in a different state of mind," he said.

THERE WERE INTRUDERS

When Ramosepele put it to Madlala that there were no intruders in the Khumalo home the night Meyiwa was killed, he denied these claims raising his voice at the defence. Ramosepele asked that Madlala to please respect him but he emphasised, " You are disrespecting me when you tell me that there were no intruders," Madlala was further reprimanded for his behaviour by Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, adding that, "Mr. Madlala, there’s no need to argue with the counsel. Just answer the questions." He apologised and concluded that, " It’s just that I am tired of this story that there were no intruders. I am tired. Those are lies,"